Yang Xin (370-442), courtesy name Jingyuan, was a famous calligrapher in the Eastern Jin Dynasty and the Southern Song Dynasty. He was a native of Nancheng, Taishan County (now Nanwucheng, Weizhuang Township). Zeng Guanzhongsan doctor, Yixing prefect, Wang Xianzhi's nephew, calligraphy was personally taught by Wang Xianzhi. Wang Xianzhi was the prefect of Wuxing, and when he came to Wucheng, he saw him studying calligraphy and fell in love with him very much. One summer, when the gift arrived, I saw that I was taking a nap in my new silk skirt, so I picked up a pen to write a few pictures of the skirt and left. Because Xianzhi personally taught him calligraphy and gave him advice from time to time, Yang Xin's calligraphy became more refined and became famous.
Yang Xin is a quiet person by nature, has no competition with others, is not attached to powerful people, and is indifferent to official advancement. Yuan Xian, the prince of Kuaiji, always made envoys to write letters, but often refused to follow orders. When Huanxuan was in power in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Xin served successively as a member of the army in Pingxi and as a lieutenant in Chutai Palace. Later, he said that he was free of illness and could not leave the alley for more than 10 years. In the Southern Dynasty and Song Dynasty, he was appointed as the prefect of Xin'an. He spent 13 years traveling around and enjoying himself. After returning home due to illness, he was awarded the official title of Zhongsan doctor in the Southern Song Dynasty.
Shen Yue of the Liang Dynasty praised Yang Xin's Shan Zhen Shu as "after presenting it, he can stand alone". There is a saying in the proverb: "Buy the king and you will get the sheep, and you will not be disappointed." This is obviously in the same category as Wang Xianzhi. In the Liu Song Dynasty, Yang Xin's real calligraphy, Kong Linzhi's cursive script, Xiao Sihua's running script, and Fan Ye's seal script were called "Four Wonders". Yang Xinsu was good at Huang Lao's studies and good at medicine. He wrote 10 volumes of prescriptions.
He was good at Li, Xing and cursive calligraphy, and he was famous for a while. His regular script is similar to that of Wang Xianzhi. He is very sophisticated and can be confused with the original calligraphy, but his creativity is not great. The original calligraphy of Yang Xin has not been circulated. There is a "Bijing Tie" in the "Chunhua Pavilion Tie" of the Northern Song Dynasty that is said to have been written by him. In addition, Wang Xianzhi's writings may be mixed with his works, which are difficult to distinguish today. Yang Xin also wrote "Xubi Zhentu", which has been lost. There is also a volume of "Cai Gu Lai Can Call People's Names", which is an early historical and biographical work on calligraphy in China. It records 69 calligraphers from the Qin to Jin dynasties, points out the calligraphy styles each master is good at, briefly comments on some calligraphers, and also compiles anecdotes about some calligraphers.
Representative work: Able to write names of people from ancient times
